


Boys Love Boys (And Girls)

by angstfilledimpala



Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Multi, a lil bit of denial coming from chase, and some one-sided broliver (with bree still having feelings for oliver after that crossover), chase is bisexual, kaz is gay af, some mild action like some fight scenes and bombs, there is side skoliver
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9574991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstfilledimpala/pseuds/angstfilledimpala
Summary: "Ooh, what are you doing?" Chase asked as he slid across the couch to sit next to Bree. He caught a glimpse of faces before she tilted her screen away from him. Without giving her a chance to react, he pulled the laptop right out of her lap. A page full of male faces with stubble, dark eyes, and well-defined cheekbones. The kind of men meant for modeling and ogling at, and Chase was subtly doing the latter.Bree huffed then pulled her laptop away from her obnoxious brother. "I'm working on a project," she replied.He raised an eyebrow. "You seriously need attractive guys for your project?" His eyes widened and he avoided his sister's surprised look. He really just said that. Chase did not appreciate the floor's coloring so much as in this moment. White carpet. A fine choice."Did you just--"Chase jumped up from the couch, realizing he had seriously screwed up. Not screwed up, just, kinda, well, admitted things he did not want to deal with right now. Of course, the best way to deal was to run away from his problems, so he walked off to wander the house while his mind calmed down.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't think I would write this, but I did it anyway. I just have a headcanon that Chase is bi as heck, so that's where this came from.

"Ooh, what are you doing?" Chase asked as he slid across the couch to sit next to Bree. He caught a glimpse of faces before she tilted her screen away from him. Without giving her a chance to react, he pulled the laptop right out of her lap. A page full of male faces with stubble, dark eyes, and well-defined cheekbones. The kind of men meant for modeling and ogling at, and Chase was subtly doing the latter.

Bree huffed then pulled her laptop away from her obnoxious brother. "I'm working on a project," she replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "You seriously need attractive guys for your project?" His eyes widened and he avoided his sister's surprised look. He really just said that. Chase did not appreciate the floor's coloring so much as in this moment. White carpet. A fine choice.

"Did you just--"

Chase jumped up from the couch, realizing he had seriously screwed up. Not screwed up, just, kinda, well, admitted things he did not want to deal with right now. Of course, the best way to deal was to run away from his problems, so he walked off to wander the house while his mind calmed down.

\---

In AP Calculus, there was a guy in Chase's class, Eli, who dyed his hair blue, had a sleeve of tattoos on his right arm, and challenged Chase whenever possible while in class. They both got a kick out of it because Chase almost always showed him up, giving him a much needed boost to his ego.

He let Eli win sometimes, just because he got so smug, and Chase got frustrated to the point where he wanted to grab Eli by the collar of his denim jacket and kiss him senseless. That feeling was the only reason Chase ever let him get an answer correct first.

The fact that Chase found this attractive meant nothing, because anyone could get confused by a pretty face with a lip ring. Definitely meant nothing. Right?

His confusion was not helped when he was attracted to girls. Girls and boys. It took him a little while to wrap his head around the attraction. Things weren't so black and white, and he was living in the shades of grey in sexuality.

\---

"Uh, hey, can I ask you something?" Chase asked as he gently set the parts down on the table and took a deep breath. He was working on a prototype for an invention with Donald, but his mind kept wandering off-topic. This one-on-one time with his dad was his best time to ask something assuming the others don't decide to come down right this minute.

"Sure. What's on your mind?" he asked, pausing his own work to notice Chase absent-mindedly fidgeting the parts in his hands.

Chase stared down at the table. He had to say this in a way that wouldn't sound like he was coming out, because he wasn't sure of himself. This was probably just a part of getting used to the real world. "What do you... think of people who are gay?"

He didn't meet his dad's eyes. Instead, he made eye contact with the wall. The gadgets and numbers and screens on the wall, still doing the same things they were doing before he spoke.

"N-not because I'm gay, but I have a friend I want to have over, and I don't want him to feel uncomfortable." Chase swallowed, and he squeezed the parts in his hands. Donald totally suspected that Chase was lying through his teeth. Just asking for a friend? No one believed that for a second.

"I experimented in college. That stuff doesn't bother me." He shrugged it off, and Chase could hardly believe it. If Donald suspected anything, he wasn't saying anything about it.

Now Chase had thoughts of his dad doing things with a dude, so not exactly a win-win situation. Gross. He shuddered at the thought.

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. "Great. I'll let my friend know."

"Are you... dating this friend?" Donald raised an eyebrow and his expression was way too serious for Chase's liking.

A breath let out too soon. "No." Chase shook his head and laughed nervously as he picked up the pieces. "Let's get back to work."

"Just so you know, it wouldn't bother me if any of my kids were gay."

\---

"Hey, Eli," Chase said to catch his attention after class. The talk he had with his dad over the weekend gave him the confidence to ask Eli.

"Hey," he replied, flashing Chase a smile, while he grabbed his books and supported them with his arms. "You need something?"

Chase nodded and scratched the back of his head. "I-I was wondering if you wanted to... hang out Friday night."

"Dude, are you trying to ask me out?" Eli grinned, a chuckle escaped his lips.

Oh, he's not interested. Chase was literally the smartest man in the universe, yet he couldn't tell that Eli wouldn't reciprocate.

"Uh, no? Yes?"

"I'm flattered, but I have a boyfriend. I can hang out as friends."

"Yeah, sure." Chase's heart sank to the ground as he watched Eli's retreating figure. Of course, his luck with boys was as good as his luck with girls. No one actually liked him. Everyone was taken and he was destined to be forever alone.

He exited the classroom, books in hand, and he kept a neutral face because it was time for lunch and his siblings would ask too many questions. None of which he was willing to answer at a time like this when all he wanted to do was hide.

\---

"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?" Donald asked, and Chase choked on the cereal in his mouth. Eli had come over last night. They talked and worked on homework until Eli had to head back home.

Maybe he should have thought it over before inviting him here. Thankfully, no one else thought anything of Chase with a male friend other than Donald.

He looked around the room to make sure no one was eavesdropping. No siblings up this early in the morning.

"No," he answered once he was satisfied things were safe. "I thought you promised not to bring this up."

"Uh, I only promised to bring it up if no one's around." Donald went over to grab milk out of the fridge then went over to his bowl to fill it. "You guys looked friendly."

Chase sighed. He stirred the few remaining Frosted Flakes in his bowl, watching them swirl in the bowl. "He has a boyfriend anyway."

Donald offered a sympathetic look as he sat down next to Chase, who could hear his dad crunching away at the cereal, which was annoying.

"They might break up."

"What would that make me? A rebound?" He got out of the chair. Chase picked the bowl and slammed it into the sink, the loud clang of the metal spoon signalling that he didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Rebound? Are you guys talking about baseball without me?" Adam asked, living in his forever oblivious state of mind. Sometimes, Chase envied the bliss that came with not knowing anything.

"You mean, _basketball_ ," Chase replied, rolling his eyes. Other times, he didn't envy being that stupid.


	2. Hang Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first real chapter with the first mention of the Mighty Med gang! Of course, what story is complete without Truth or Dare? The answer is none. Well, actually, the answer is greater than one, but shhhhh...
> 
> If it makes you feel better, Kaz and Chase don't make out in chapter one.

In a logical world, Chase was attracted to Skylar or Oliver. Except, well, he didn't live in a logical world, so he was attracted to the often thick Kaz. He might not have known how that happened, but he did know that Kaz was smart. This was only if he considered too much knowledge about comic books smart. He had a hard time doing that, but he could respect that Kaz wasn't a complete imbecile and could actually be clever.

However, Chase was really just attracted to Kaz because he had a cute face. Superficial? Yeah.

Chase's thoughts rarely ventured toward the Mighty Med men and Skylar. He was busy with his life and problems. For example, he currently taught at a school for bionic super-humans, and the many, many missions he went on kept him quite busy, too.

He took a seat at one of the dining tables where his siblings were already sat down and chatting away.

"Hey, guys," Chase said as he settled in, picking up his fork to stab the lettuce leaves. Adam, Leo, and Bree greeted him right back.

"So, I got in touch with Oliver," Bree said, and Chase looked up from his plate. "I invited him to hang out with us."

"You mean, you invited him to hang out with you," he replied, well aware of her on Oliver when they met him. Honestly, it was disgusting that she was all over him the whole time. When he last checked, she was over Oliver and that was that. He never got mentioned again. Lost to some kind of black hole where one forgot their friends. Until now.

"I told him he could bring Kaz. And Skylar." Bree frowned.

Skylar had a crush on Oliver, too, so there was tension in that area as far as Chase could tell.

"If you want someone to get Skylar away from Oliver, I'm your man," Leo said, full of confidence.

Chase snorted. "Wow."

"Shut up, Chase." Leo glared at him, and Chase kind of deserved it. It amused him that Leo was so willing to do it, making him just as desperate as Bree. It was sad.

"Anyway... they're coming over later today."

\---

Chase tuned out the words coming from one of his students, his mind distracted with the evening to come. He would get to see the Mighty Med gang. More importantly, he would get to see Kaz, and that boosted his mood.

"Practice makes perfect," he absently replied to his student as some kind of support. The generic support that this kid could get from literally anyone else in the world, but they chose Chase.

"How is practicing going to help me win a girl over?" the student replied.

Chase shrugged. He really had zoned out. This was not his forte, and he would have know that had he bothered to pay attention. He wasted his own time and this student's time, but hey, Kaz and the others were coming around in less than an hour. One good thing came out of this. "I don't know. I've never had a girlfriend."

"Does that mean you've had a bo--"

There was the mood drop. Curse him for listening to the conversation now. " _No._ Two girls have been interested me, but neither one of them was my girlfriend. Ask someone else for advice." He was still bitter about the fact that Adam purposely messed up his study date out of jealously.

\---

In an hour, Bree managed to put together a nice little get-together thanks to Leo's help. There were snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, and enough seating for the seven of them.

"Wow. You're really desperate to impress Oliver," Chase said as he picked up a name tag that said 'Oliver' on the comfiest chair in the whole place. Bree may or may not have stolen it from Donald's lab, but it's okay because he was busy working on an invention.

"Shut up," Bree replied. She took the name tag out of his hand and gently placed it back on the chair, straightening it up until was nice and centered on the seat. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

Adam came back from his bathroom break and plopped himself right in the incredibly comfortable chair. "Something's not right," he said, furrowing his eyebrows and wiggling his butt in the seat. "This chair's not as comfy." He grabbed the paper. "What's this paper doing here and what does it say?"

"Get out of Oliver's chair, Adam," Bree commanded.

"I don't see his name on it." Adam crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the seat. His sister sighed.

"That's what this paper says. Now, get up."

Kaz, Skylar, and Oliver appeared in the meeting room just as Adam got up from the chair.

Bree immediately greeted the three of them, and Chase watched as she spent extra time greeting Oliver, even giving him a hug. A hug that lingered for moments past the socially acceptable limit.

Chase joined his two brothers in the greetings, and he smiled when Kaz made eye contact, hoping to come off as friendly, and Kaz smiled back.

"Let's all grab some snacks and sit down," Bree said, leading the newcomers to the table of snacks where Adam had already made his trip and was now carrying a plateful of chips and pretzels and popcorn. "Help yourselves."

"This is awesome," Kaz said as he picked up a chip and popped it into his mouth. "Sour cream and onion. Incredible."

"Ooh!" Oliver said, excited about the chips.

Chase poured himself a glass of water and took a seat on the left-seat of the couch couch. He didn't feel too hungry, which was why he was sitting there with only a glass of water.

Leo and Adam took the two seats next to him, although Chase had hoped to save that space for Kaz, but he didn't say anything about it. There was no reason to look suspicious.

There was a loveseat, which Bree took and sat on the side closest to the comfy chair. Skylar took the unclaimed open chair after Kaz sat next to Bree.

"Why does this chair have my name on it?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at the others for an answer.

"Bree saved it for you," Leo answered.

Skylar gave Bree a dirty look for the claimed chair. A look that said she didn't trust her and that Skylar would keep an eye on Bree for the remainder of the vening.

"Oh, okay." Oliver sat down in the seat after removing the name tag.

Chase subtly looked over his cup at Kaz, who was too busy stuffing his face to notice that Chase was being a creepy creep who does things creepily.

"What are we doing now?" Skylar asked, leaning forward in the chair, glaring at Bree, and opening and closing her fists to try and keep the violent urges away.

"I thought we could play 'Truth or Dare'," Bree answered as she played oblivious to Skylar's malice.

_Oh, yeah, that's a great idea..._ Chase rolled his eyes at sister's dumb game idea. Everyone knew Truth or Dare was about getting people to do embarrassing things and asking them way too personal questions. He was a little scared because Bree might bring up that time from months ago with the hot male models on her laptop screen.

"I'm in!" Leo said. Chase looked at his brother in confusion, then the others were into the idea, with varying levels of enthusiasm.

"Chase, are you in?"  Bree asked. She looked at him with an expectant gaze. They would play whether or not he agreed to it, but since he didn't want to sit around and do nothing...

"Yeah. I'm in," he answered with a sigh.

The coffee table seated in the center of the circle had a bottle placed on top.

"I'll go first," Bree said, and she spun the bottle, which landed on Oliver. She turned her body toward him. "So, Oliver, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he answered confidently.

"Are you and Skylar a thing?" She furrowed her brow and shifted in her seat, nervous about the answer.

"Yes."

"No!" Skylar yelled as she shook her and pushed herself out of her seat. "I mean, yes. Sorry, I forgot." She sat back down, her cheeks tinted pink.

Chase rubbed his ears, flinching at the very loud noise. Curse his sensitive ears and the booming voices of a female alien.

"Have you could forget? The two of you were all over each other yesterday," Kaz said, raising his arms in a 'what?' motion and raising his eyebrows.

Skylar crossed her arms over her chest. "We've been dating for like two days, give me a break."

Chase's sensitive ears could hear Bree's heart break, and he frowned because he related to the pain when feelings weren't reciprocated. At least, he could pass off the depressed emotion for every girl who has ever rejected him and not just Eli.

He took a look at his sister and saw the painted smile on her face. One that he had seen many times when she was upset and tried to look positive about it. The eyes don't lie.

"Aw, congrats you two," Bree said in a meek attempt to sound supportive.

Red painted Oliver's cheeks as he reached for the bottle to spin it, landing on Adam.

"Adam, truth or dare?" Oliver asked.

"Um... hmm... dare," he answered.

Chase glanced at Kaz to see that the Cheetos he had eaten were now all over his face and Henley. He wouldn't say anything about it, but Kaz definitely needed to do something about it.

Right now, Adam was licking the coffee table, so Kaz's dirtiness was less disgusting in the moment. Chase stared into his cup until his brother spun the bottle. It landed on Bree.

A truth.

"No, I don't still like Oliver," Bree said, laughing nervously as she avoided eye contact with everyone. Skylar smirked. Oliver frowned, but he shouldn't frown because he was dating Skylar.

Another bottle spin.

"Truth or dare?" Bree asked, looking at her brother.

"Do I trust you...?" Leo said. "Dare."

"I dare you to call Janelle and call her a disgusting pet name."

"Yep, I don't trust you." Leo snatched his phone out of his pocket and dialed Janell's number, which he absolutely did not have memorized just in case he needed it in an emergency. No, no, that was wrong.

Chase snickered when he heard 'cutie wootie snookums' escape Leo's lips. He had to give him points, that was a disgusting pet name. In fact, it was the most disgusting pet name Chase had ever heard in his entire life.

"...Bree dared me to call you a pet name," Leo said into his cell phone. "I have to go. Love you. Bye." He placed his phone back into his pocket, cheeks flushed from that embarrassing conversation, and he and Janelle were broken up so the 'love you' was even more awkward.

The bottle landed on Chase. This was the fastest his heart had beat since the last time he became Spike. That was always a dangerous adrenaline rush he didn't want to go through unless he had no other choice.

"So, Chase, truth or dare?"

"Truth." He didn't want to lick any furniture or make embarrassing phone calls. Chase was safe in the truth.

"Who's Eli?" Leo asked.

"What do you mean?" he replied. To be fair, Chase had never introduced any of his siblings to Eli, and it was absolutely because he worried that Eli might bring up the sexual orientation topic.

"He's a contact in your phone, and he has a smiley face next to his name."

Oh. Right. He did. The other day Chase left his phone on the table, and Leo peeked over his shoulder during the occasional text to Eli. Making sure he's doing fine. Secretly hoping he'll want to make plans.

"Eli isn't a dude. It's... short for Elise, and she's someone I met in high school. We hung out like, twice."

"How come you never brought her up?" Leo needed to stop with all these invasive questions. Effective immediately. Good thing this was only a game.

"You only get to ask one question." So much for not looking suspicious. Leo was not satisfied with that answer, but he only had the right to ask one question. Anything after that relied on Chase's consent.

He spun the bottle, ignoring his brother's intense gaze.

The evening went on with varying levels of interesting things happening. For example, Adam admitted he had a crush one of his students, Leo called his mom to tell her he'd been a good boy and deserved lots of love (that whole thing was a cringefest), and someone, Leo, thought it'd be a good idea to get back at Bree by making Oliver and Skylar kiss in front of the whole group. Oh, and Kaz acted like a complete idiot as Adam recorded him as he sang the national anthem in whale song.

It was quite impressive, Chase had to admit. He didn't know anyone with that talent.

Now Bree spun the bottle, almost spinning it off the table after what had taken place between her crush and his girlfriend a few minutes ago. It landed on Kaz.

"Truth or dare, Kaz?"

"Truth. I've already proven I'm not a wuss, unlike some people," he answered, looking at Oliver who had chosen truth every time he was picked.

"What's something you've never told Oliver?" she asked.

Everyone, especially Oliver, looked over at Kaz, who looked like he was trying to think. Don't burn yourself out, buddy.

He was trying to think of something that wouldn't completely ruin his friendship with Oliver, but he had plenty of options if Kaz wanted to do that.

Chase noticed that Kaz got around to brushing off the crumbs from his shirt and face at some point.

"Hey, Oliver, you remember Hurricane, right?" Kaz asked.

"Yeah. What about him?" Oliver replied. He was feeling a little nervous because he was going to learn something that Kaz had kept from him. Whether it was good or bad, he was about to find out.

"Uh, well." Kaz shifted in his seat as he took a deep breath. "Before he left Mighty Med, I got his phone number."

"Okay, and you couldn't te--"

"I'm not done. So, we hung out a few times, and I don't mean as friends. We went out _together_ together. Like, we dated for a few weeks." Kaz scratched the back of his head and looked nervously at his best friend.

Chase didn't know what to do with this news because Kaz had attraction to boys. That meant Chase had a chance. He struggled to keep himself from smiling at this news.

"How come you never told me?"

Kaz shrugged. "I don't know. I thought you'd hate me for being gay."

"I could never hate you for that." Oliver got up from the comfy chair. "Hug?"

Kaz nodded and got up from his seat. "Hug."

The two boys hugged and it was nice to see the support the friends possessed for each other. Chase took this time to really let the news sink into his system because this was all he'd be thinking about for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post chapters on a weekly basis (probably posting anytime between Thursday and Sunday). I have a few already done.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Chapter Two: Surprise Visitor

Chase planned out his days so he wouldn't be alone with his siblings in case one of them wanted to ask about Eli, or Elise, rather. His efforts rewarded him because almost two weeks had passed since the incidence, and he had not been confronted about it once.

A structured schedule made this easy enough. However, mission alerts involving him and his siblings were not a part of his structured schedule, so once they were done with the mission, one of his siblings followed him.

"Ah!" Leo yelled, causing Chase to stop and pivot to see Leo standing tall and not falling to the ground.

Chase crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't scare me like that," he said. "I don't want to talk about Eli."

"I wasn't going to ask about-- okay, yes, I was. But listen, I just want to know why you don't want to talk about her."

Chase turned his head to listen to an imaginary noise. "Do you hear that? You probably don't, you don't have super hearing. Gotta go!" Leo grabbed a hold of Chase's shoulder before he had the chance to run away.

 _Seriously?_   Chase shook his head. "Just drop it."

"But--"

"I said, drop it!" This time Leo didn't stop Chase from storming off. He didn't want this. Life was so much easier without secrets. He knew his siblings would take it well if Chase was bisexual, but he also worried they wouldn't take it well at all. Maybe they'd make fun of him for being bisexual instead of making fun of him for being smart.

He could almost hear Adam joking about Chase spending the rest of his life without a girlfriend _or_ a boyfriend.

Chase made it back into the classroom to resume the teachings that were so rudely interrupted by someone setting off bombs around his old neighborhood. That had been quite a distracting emergency, but he was here and ready to teach.

\---

"Have you noticed that Chase is acting weird?" Leo asked while he spooned up some cereal.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Bree answered. "I wish I knew what was up with him, but he's impossible to talk to."

"You know, I don't remember an Elise at school. Now that I think about it, he mentioned an Eli once or twice. Actually, a few times. He complained about him a few times."

"I always tune Chse out when he's doing that," Adam said, breaking into the conversation between his two siblings. "He always sounds annoying."

"If he complained about Eli before, he's not complaining about him now," Leo noted.

Bree nodded in agreement. "They don't go to school together anymore. There's nothing to complain about."

Chase sighed quietly from behind the door. Thank goodness he's the one with the super hearing or else someone might have heard him sigh. They're talking about him. About his weird behavior and they were making guesses about it. This wasn't good at all. Why did he have to put a smiley face next to the name of a guy who has a boyfriend?

\---

Chase tore his eyes away from his phone when he heard someone in the hallway, curious about who it might be. He hoped Oliver and Kaz, mostly Kaz, would come around again. With Chase's luck, the disturbance was just a regular face around the academy. His hopes shouldn't have gone up.

He carried his high hopes with him to the hallway, and he noticed someone slip into the utility closet. Weird. Chase pocketed his phone and walked down the hall, opening the door to reveal a familiar boy having a very good hair day.

 "Hey, Kaz, what are you doing in the closet?" Chase asked, leaning his arm against the doorframe, eyebrow raised, and staring at the boy.

"Looking for one of you guys," he answered.

Not sure why any of them would be in a closet, but he had to give Kaz the benefit of the doubt. He probably thought it was a classroom. Or a secret classroom beyond the closet's walls.

"Is everything okay?" He didn't know Kaz at any intimate level, but he thought that his coming here alone was unlike the guy.

Kaz shrugging, picked up a can of air freshener to read the label, then placed it back on the shelf. "I'm bored, and all Oliver wants to do is spend time with Skylar. I need new friends."

"You can hang out with me." _I'm loads of fun._ said no one ever. Never said about Chase, anyway. Eli implied that Chase was fun once in a conversation, and it was the biggest ego boost Chase had ever experienced.

One hour later, the two boys were playing video games. Chase wanted to appear cool and fun, although he had no idea how to play and was spitting out dull facts about video game creation. Not fun. Kaz was yelling over Chase's facts and probably missed half of them as a result.

It really brought him down because chase was trying so hard.

The round finished, and Kaz turned toward Chase. "You're not actually fun, are you?" he asked.

"Yes I am," chase answered, faking confidence. Fake it until he made it. His facts were so fun, but the complex terminology was likely going over Kaz' head.

"This," Kaz gestured between the two of them and the TV, "is not fun."

"If you weren't having fun, why did you keep this up for an hour?" He must have been doing something right. This counted as a win, even if Kaz would disagree.

"Because I'm bored. And desperate." Kaz pushed himself up from the couch and his stomach growled. "Now I'm hungry."

There were ten minutes until dinnertime here. "Okay, let's go get something to eat." Kaz followed Chase out of the room and through the building's hallways until they reached the dining hall.


	4. Chapter Three: The Road to Friendship

Any minute now food would come out on the buffet that lined one wall.

There was enough food to feed a small army. In this case, a small "army" of bionic super humans.

The smell of chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy wafted through the air. Chase smiled to himself. He loved that home-cooked smell, although all of the food was created by machines.

"Where's the food?" Kaz asked.

Chase looked at the guy. "It'll be here in a few minutes. Along with everyone else," he responded.

The signal for meal time came a couple minutes later, and the two boys made their way over to the food.

Chase got an appropriate amount of everything, and he sighed to himself when he saw Kaz pile his plate up high. He had no idea how anyone could consume that much food in one sitting, but he had seen Leo and Adam do it in the past.

While in line, he saw his siblings get into line. He made eye contact with Bree for a brief moment before heading with Kaz to the usual table. Chase pushed his spoon through soft potatoes, worrying his bottom lip as he made occasional glances at his siblings, who were now coming this way.

"Hey, Kaz," Leo greeted.

"Oh, hey guys," Kaz said with a mouthful of food, his attention pulled away from the food.

"When did you get here?"

Chase heard trays drop against the table with soft plops. His mashed potatoes interested him more than the others. He remembered them talking about him at breakfast, which he decided justified his cold actions toward them.

"About an hour ago. Chase and I played video games. Well, I played, and he just said boring facts."

Chase rolled his eyes and tapped his foot to keep away the urge to stop on Kaz'. He shoved some buttery potatoes in his mouth. Of course Kaz didn't think all that highly of him, and it sucked because he needed to figure out how to get him to like Chase.

"Next time you want to have fun, come find me," Adam said.

"All right. How about you and I play after dinner?"

Chase stabbed his mashed potatoes, then he felt someone nudge his side, and he saw concern in Bree's face.

"Are you okay?" she mouthed.

"Yeah," he mouthed back, nodding quickly.

His sister grabbed his arm tightly, keeping his gaze fixated away from her, his nostrils flaring. He took a deep breath to keep himself from going into an almost Spike-like rage because nothing turned people off from Chase quite like a rampage he couldn't control.

"Don't like to me," she whispered.

"I'm _fine_ ," he insisted as he pulled his arm out of her grip, lowering his eyebrows. His eyes made it clear that she should drop the topic, so she retreated and focused her attention elsewhere. Chase had a feeling that wasn't it. She probably planned to pester him at a better time when they weren't surrounded by others.

\---

After dinner, Chase took a shower. All was going fine until he remembered that Kaz was having an incredible time with Adam, and Chase sighed under the hot water. He needed a plan to befriend Kaz. Maybe he could contact Oliver to get some tips or something. The only flaw with this plan was that he would have to ask Bree for Oliver's number.

Chase sighed again and pressed the button that shut the hot water off. Guess he'll have to take his sister worrying and interrogating him in order to move forward.

\---

"What do you need his number for?" Bree inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Are you gonna put a smiley face next to his name?"

Chase shook his head and glared when his sister used that teasing tone. "No," he answered simply. "I need to ask him how to befriend Kaz."

"That's all? Why do you want to befriend Kaz?" Bree could give it to him out of the goodness of her heart but getting under his skin with questions was much more fun.

"Because I want to?" Chase shrugged. This was exactly what he expected from his annoying, nosy sister.

She didn't seem too impressed, but she had the upper hand here, and they both knew it. "Why?"

Chase groaned and rolled his eyes, frustrated that this was not as easy as he had hoped. "Just give it to me."

"Say the magic word."

"Please."

"You're welcome." She texted him the number, then walked off to go teach her class. Chase typed Kaz's number into his phone and immediately got to introducing himself and asking the important questions. In fact, he asked at least twenty of them, then it was time for sleep.

Chase set his phone down, then sighed, loud, and rubbed his temple. Comics. All of the superhero stuff. The stuff that Chase didn't understand and didn't enjoy. He had opened a comic book once to figure out what they were all about, but he got bored out of his mind.

\---

Kaz came back to the island several times, and he always hung out with Adam and Leo. Chase tried joining them a couple of times, but the conversations always went stale around him, or Chase had no way of entering them. As a whole, he felt left out, so he stopped trying.

This time, however, Chase found Kaz before he got to Adam and Leo. This was his chance to talk to Kaz in person instead of through texts since their lives left them too busy for phone calls.

"Hey, Kaz," Chase said, and Kaz turned around.

"Hey," he replied, offering a smile.

"Uh, what you can you tell me about comic books?" Chase tensed, almost hearing Kaz' rejection because it's _Chase_ , the most boring guy on the planet, and Kaz would much rather go play video games than talk comic books. The latter involved so much work.

Kaz raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Anything. Everything?" Chase shrugged. He didn't know what to ask; he hadn't expected to get this far in the conversation.

"That's too much effort." Kaz softly groaned. "You gotta be more specific, dude."

"Comic books recommendations?" Chase could get to know Kaz a little better, and it was an easy request. Very little brainwork.

Kaz stroked his almost hairless chin. There were two hairs there, but they were unnoticeable in every kind of lighting. "Read Tecon," he decided.

"Okay. Thanks." Chase nodded and smiled, then they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. He went off to go order the comic book series so he could attempt to read them.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


	5. Chapter Four: Leo Knows

Chase dropped the book in his hands when he looked up and noticed Leo standing the doorway, looking surprised and a little freaked out at the scene. He sat up on the couch and stared at his brother while he thought of what to say.

There were comics littered all over the coffee table. Some read. Many unread.

“So, are you okay or should I be concerned?” Leo asked, finally breaking the silence that had lingered between them.

“I’m fine. Great,” Chase answered and nodded a few too many times. He picked up the comic book that fell on his lap and placed it on the table.

Leo gave him a skeptical expression, then looked to the table and back to Chase. “You hate comic books.”

“They’re not that bad.” Chase had read two. Maybe three. Definitely not six. Stop judging him. “The plots are interesting.” The writing was sometimes cheesy and cliche, but the plots were often action-packed so Chase could look past the writing.

“Oh, really?” His brother crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Are you reading comic books because of Kaz?”

“No! I’m reading them because I want to.” Chase didn’t even believe the words that tumbled out of his mouth. He certainly didn’t while staring at the table, while tapping his fingers against his thigh, or while he scratched the back of his head.

“Sure you are...”

“Why else would I read them?”

Leo shrugged. “Maybe because you have a crush on Kaz.”

Chase jerked his head up and stared wide-eyed at his brother. That came out of nowhere. He was _not_  doing this for Kaz. “I don’t. I never said I did.”

“You didn’t have to.” Leo stepped over to the table and picked up one of the Tecton comic books. “Kaz told us you wanted to start reading comic books.”

 _Kaz talked about him? Kaz thought about him?_ This was good news. Wait, not good news. Not good news at all. This was not something to bring up with his family.

“He did.”

“So you _do_ have a crush on Kaz.” Leo dropped the book onto the table.

Chase sighed. “No. I’m trying to become friends.”

“Whatever you saaaaay.” Leo left the room, closing the door behind him. The clock above the door said that it was getting close to midnight, so Chase decided to call it a day.

\---

“I started reading those Tecton comics you suggested,” Chase said while the usual five were at dinner.

“Oh, yeah? What’d you think?” Kaz replied, looking at Chase.

“They’re good.” The butterflies flew around in stomach when their eyes met.

“Awesome, glad you like ‘em.” Kaz grinned, which was a win in Chase’s book. “Hey, you should join us for video games after dinner.”

Chase shook his head. “I’m busy. Got a lot left to read.” Video games were not fun for him. He wasn’t good at the kind his brothers liked to play, but maybe he would be better suited for puzzle type games than first-person shooter. The mindless kind of video games just didn’t stimulate his mind enough.

“Do it later. C’mon, we want to do teams, but there’s only three of us.”

Chase shook his head. “You don’t want me on your team.”

“I know. You can team up with Leo.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I deserve a chance to win,” Leo whined. “Unless you’re saying I’m incredible and I could win even if Chase is awful.”

“Sure. That’s what I’m saying.” Kaz looked to Chase and mouthed ‘no’.

Chase smiled, and he psyched himself up for video games. He and Leo could totally beat Kaz and Adam with enough luck. A lot of luck.

Chase had watched them play before. Adam played while focused until he got frustrated and threw the controller at the wall. There were many, many dents and holes in the wall behind the screen. Donald had given up on trying to fix them.

Kaz played with a lot of energy, almost getting out of his seat, and he shouted. A lot. Chase wondered if he didn’t do it on purpose sometimes.

Leo played as a sore loser or a sore winner depending on how the previous game went. It was either ‘I’m going to get my revenge’ or ‘ooh look at me I’m so good’.

As the four of them played right now, Leo acted as a sore loser. He had a right to act that way, since it took Chase a couple of games to get used to how fast the others played.

Their sixth game ended, and Leo slammed his controller onto the coffee table. The screen displayed a 100-94 score, which was the closest the game had been since they started. Chase was getting the hang of it.

“I want to change teams,” Leo said, frustrated at the unfair advantage the other boys had because they didn’t have Chase.

“Why? We’re having such a good time beating you two,” Adam replied.

“Chase doesn’t know how to play.” Leo glared at Chase since it was completely his fault that they lost every time.

“All right,” Kaz said with a sigh. “Adam, you’re with Chase now.”

“Yes!” Leo fist pumped into the air.

Adam frowned. “I don’t want to play on his team.”

“I don’t either, but one of us has to, and you’re the better player.”

Chase set his controller down and cleared his throat. “I’m done playing.” He didn’t want to sit here and listen to how unwanted he was. He had improved since the beginning, but it was all a waste of time and effort, apparently.

“It was getting kind of boring beating you guys all the time,” Kaz said. “I’m heading back to Mighty Med. See ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting over the weekend. I got busy with celebrating my brother's birthday, so I didn't have time to work on this. Depending on how the week goes, things should be back on schedule, so expect a chapter this weekend.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter Five: Mission Suit = thebomb.com

The next time Kaz came over, he brought Oliver and Skylar with him. The group planned to play games and chill out again, and Chase looked forward to it. He had gotten far into the Tecton comics, and if he had more free time, he would probably have finished it.

Only Kaz and Oliver came around. Apparently, Oliver and Skylar were on a break from each other, which really meant that the honeymoon phase was over. They needed some space to make up for all the lovey-dovey moments from the past few weeks, and Kaz cashed in every minute possible to hang out with his best friend.

The six had settled down in the lounge area and enjoyed conversation with each other. Chase thought it was nice to discuss the comics with Kaz, and the discussion turned into a debate over a few scenes in the comics, because some scenes defied all logic as far as Chase could see.

All was fine right up until the ‘mission alert’ alarm went off, and Adam, Leo, Bree, and Chase were all getting up from the couches. They sprinted to their capsules to change into mission suits faster than Kaz’ brain could process exactly what was going on.

“You guys should get going,” Chase said when he got out of his capsule and saw the two boys standing there with awestruck faces.

“Actually, I could use their help,” Donald said from the other side of the room. “I’m going to have to split you guys up, and I could use the extra eyes.”

Chase nodded and noticed the staring in his peripheral vision. He glanced at Kaz, who met his eyes and looked away, his cheeks turning pink. Not sure what that was about, but thinking it was cute anyway, Chase’s heart skipped a beat.

Donald’s explanation of the mission drew Chase out of a Kaz-filled thought train.

The four of them had an hour to find some bombs in an office basement. An office basement with lots of halls and two floors. Donald thought it best to give everyone a second set of eyes and years, so the four were given communication devices with built-in video cameras.

~

When they arrived at the building, the four of them split up. Bree and Adam on the lowest floor with Chase and Leo on the floor above.

Chase searched through a long, poorly-lit hallway for any signs of a bomb, specifically, he was listening for the faintest ticking noise to come from behind one of the wooden doors with frosted glass windows.

“Chase, can I say something real quick?” Kaz asked into Chase’s communications device. Donald had Oliver watch Bree and Kaz watch Chase while Donald watched Leo and Adam.

All Kaz had been useful for so far was keeping Chase from lost in the eerie silence of this building’s basement. This didn’t seem like it was up to any company’s standards, but it was a basement, after all.

“Yeah, go for it,” Chase answered as he tried to keep his guard up while his crush talked to him. Hopefully nothing will attack him right now.

“You look really hot in your mission suit.”

Chase looked down at the ground. His cheeks were bright as a red, ripe tomato. Now he’s a freaking mess while wearing his suit, which Kaz was objectifying him in, but Chase did not care about that. Honestly, he might have to wear this suit every time Kaz comes over now. “This is _not_  the time.”

Oh, jeez. His dad was literally sitting next to Kaz, and he heard at least Kaz’ half of the conversation. Chase was not getting out of this so easily. _Tick._

“Sorry. Just wanted to say it in case you die.”

Well, that ruined the moment. “I’m not gonna die unless you keep this flirting thing up.” _Tick._ Chase stopped. _Tick. Tick. Tick._  “I hear one.”

He stopped at the door on the left, then he cautiously turned the handle and pushed the door open. The ticking grew louder. So did Kaz’ breathing in his ear. “Would you be quiet?” he whispered.

“I’m not saying anthi--”

“Breathe quieter. Please.” Chase listened for the noise and followed it to the far corner. Thanks to his vast amounts of bomb-related knowledge, he figured out the right way to defuse the bomb, although he had to be careful and calculated in his steps. There were no do-overs when it came to bombs.

The red digital timer read that he had a little over forty minutes to defuse the bomb, and it only took five minutes to get successful. A little bit longer than he wanted it to take, but he felt good about it.

“One bomb down, three to go,” Chase said once he was safe.

“Bree already defused hers,” Kaz replied. “You have two more to go.”

~

“Thanks for pointing that guy out for me,” Chase said. He had just finished fighting one of the people who placed the bombs in the building. This moment had proven to Chase that Kaz was more useful than he initially thought, and this made Chase like him just a little bit more.

“No problem. I wouldn’t let you die,” Kaz assured. “When we’re playing video games, that’s an entirely different story, then it’s every man for himself.”

A small graced Chase’s lips. At least Kaz cleared that up.

Chase increased his pace through the long halls past endless doors to where Leo was opening the door to a ticking time bomb.

The thirty minute mark passed, and Chase wondered if these bombs were too easy to find. This was bomb three out of four, although they were not defused in a short amount of time.

Chase and Donald guided Leo through defusing the bomb with too many close-calls.

Twenty minutes left, one bomb, and two others to find. At least five other people in masks and suits to take down.

They could do this.

~

Five minutes remained. The ‘bomb defenders’ were right outside the door. Adam pushed against the door to keep it closed. A shot rang out, breaking the glass on the door. Adam jumped.

They got in.

Chase had just started defusing the bomb and almost clipped the wrong wire. His siblings fought the people. Shouts. Battle grunts. Shots fired. Smacks. Slaps. Screams.

He forced himself to focus on what he had to do, and he had gotten halfway through the process when Kaz screamed to look out, so Chase turned his head and got kicked right in the face. Pushed to the ground, Chase pushed himself up, warm blood dripped out of his nose. He defended himself from another kick. His sister got him out of the fight.

Chase could hear Adam’s comment about getting helped by a girl in the back of his head. His thoughts were all frazzled from getting kicked, but he pushed through it. He took a deep breath and looked the bomb over.

He could no longer hear fighting noises behind him, so his siblings had successfully knocked them out.

“Hey, do you remember what I was doing before getting kicked?” Chase asked, directing the question to his eyes and ears companion.

“I think you were doing something with the dials,” Kaz answered, unsure of himself.

It was not a good sign, but it helped Chase get his mind focused.

With less than two minutes to go, he worked faster, which put him at risk of getting sloppy and killing everyone.

“Get out of here,” Chase said to his siblings. “I’m not sure if I’ll get done in time. Save some people in the building and save yourselves.”

“You’ll get it done. I’m not worried,” Bree replied.

“I could screw up.” _I am the smartest man in the universe, and I am perfect. But, I’m also not always perfect,_  he thought. Chase had a couple of time consuming steps left to go. Fifty… Forty-nine… Forty-eight…

“You won’t. Hurry up!”

He worked as fast as he could with the stakes in mind. One small move and they were toast. Connect that wire to this and that and Kaz was _breathing_  again. Jeez.

_Stop that, please._

The red numbers counted down from ten, and Chase was almost done with the last bomb puzzle.

… Four… Three… Two…

The timer went black and the ticking stopped. Chase relaxed, and he felt like he could collapse right then and there on the hard floor. He did it. They were safe. The building was safe. Now they only needed to make it back.

~

“Jeez, dude, you scared me back there,” Kaz said, patting Chase’s shoulder. “I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it.”

“I’m so glad you have faith in me,” Chase replied as he rolled his eyes, and he tried to ignore the fact that Kaz’ hand had not left Chase’s shoulder. “Thanks for watching my back while I was out there.”

“No problem.”

His eyes met with Kaz’. He found his lips curling up into a fond smile, and Kaz smiled back at him. Breathing and heart-beating were optional for survival, right?

“Do you two need a room?” Leo whispered, making sure that only Chase heard him. He was not as polite as Donald about not saying anything.

Chase jumped back, glared at Leo, then used the wall as a new focal point. Heat escaped from his shoulder and into the air, making Chase feel cold.

Kaz was surprised at Chase’s violent reaction. He didn’t expect that to happen, and now he wondered what Leo had said to him. If only they weren’t standing near the others.

“Hey, Kaz and I should get going,” Oliver said.

“See you later,” Kaz said, and he subtly handed Chase a slip of paper as he walked past him.

Chase discreetly slid that piece of paper into his pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact: I didn't take this chapter title seriously, but it's accurate enough. Thanks for reading, guys!


	7. Chapter 6: Date Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this months ago, got sidetracked, but finally did it! Life's been busy and hectic, but I wanted to write, so this is here! :)
> 
> Thanks for being patient with me as I procrastinated and forgot about this but finally came back.

Donald wasted no time in finding Chase later that evening in one of the training rooms working on his molecular telekinesis.

Chase dropped the chair, and he turned around with his arms over his chest. “I know what you’re going to ask,” he said. “ _No._  We’re just friends.”

“But is he single?” Donald asked.

“I don’t know.” Chase let out an exasperated sigh. His dad should leave him alone.

“Do you  _like_ him?” A teasing tone followed, so either he didn’t get the message or he was ignoring it.

Chase shrugged and shifted the weight on his feet. “Yeah. Can you leave now?”

“All right, fine. If you want any advice, let me know.” His father left the room, and Chase sat down in one of the chairs. After the conversation, he was reminded of the piece of paper Kaz gave him. Chase grabbed it out of his pocket.

It was hard to decipher the chicken scratch, but it said ‘Call me if you want to’ followed by a phone number. He tried it a couple of times on his phone and realized he was typing in the number wrong.

Once he deciphered the correct number, he placed the phone to his ear. He waited for a couple of rings before Kaz picked up.

“Hey, who is this?” Kaz’s familiar voice echoed in his ear, along with loud background noise.

“Hi. It’s Chase,” he answered, smiling to himself. It was nice to hear Kaz’s voice.

“Oh, hey! Sorry about the noise, my younger siblings are being really loud right now.”

“Is this a bad tim--” He shouldn’t have called. Oh, no, now Kaz was going think he was annoying. Maybe he should have saved it for a better time, but there was no better time as far as he was aware.  _Breathe._

“No. Give me a minute.”

The voices in the background grew quieter and quieter until they were more like a hum than an obnoxious noise. He heard the click of a door closing shut.

“Okay, I’m good. What do you want to talk about?”

Chase paused. What to talk about. Right, he didn’t anticipate getting this far. “How about comics?” he suggested, though there was a wavering quality in his voice as his heart thumped inside his head.

“All right… Are you caught up on Tecton yet?”

“Not yet.” Chase shook his head. “He has a  _lot_  of issues. It gets overwhelming.”

“I  _know_.” Excitement rang from Kaz’s voice, the passion he felt about them came through without having to see his face.

“So.” Chase breathed, deep, in and out. A long pause of silence followed, the two of them listened to each other breathing. It was nice.

“Soooo,” Kaz said, breaking up the silence.

Chase bit his lip, his free hand fiddled around with the buttons on his shirt. Something was there between them. Not in this moment, but he couldn’t deny that he wanted to spend more time with Kaz. One on one, even.

All he had to do was ask. And hope Kaz didn’t reject him. Also, make it to the date. Have a successful date. Do it all again. Chase rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his lap.

“Are you busy next weekend?” he asked.

“No. Why?” Kaz didn’t sound upset. He sounded intrigued, interested in knowing more. Not upset or weirded out. Just, curious.

“I want to know if you want to maybe, possibly, potentially want to go on a date with me?” The words that spilled out of his mouth felt like a mess. His face was probably flushed red from nerves and embarrassment and his hands were feeling a little clammy. Was it possible to take the words back?

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’d love that.”

Chase grinned.  _He said he’d_ love _that_. “Great. I’ll let you know the details later.” Bree stepped into the room, and he knew they would have to talk because she saw his face.

“Cool. Talk to you later. Bye!”

“Bye.” Chase pocketed his phone, glanced at his sister, and stood up. His cheeks were warm and his sister was staring at him with a smirk.

“Was that Kaz?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he answered. He tried to act nonchalant as he shrugged his shoulders and didn’t meet her gaze. Chase bit his lip to stop himself from smiling but that took twice as much effort when his heart sped up every time he thought of Kaz.

“Okay, he’s apparently really into you, and you’re blushing like crazy. There’s no maybe about it.” Bree knew better.

Chase sighed. “Fine. We talked about comics.”

She nodded, pretending to go along with this. “So you called him. Does this mean he has a smiley face next to his name?” she teased.

Chase buried his head in his hands. “Shut up.” He didn’t deserve to be subjected to this torture of his sister teasing him, and, when everyone else found it, their teasing. Why couldn’t he live alone?

At least he could look forward to some time away from family next weekend on his date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. :)


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